UK Landlord Forum / Life

After months trying to find a private landlord who accepts DSS, someone recommended a private renter. I contacted the landlord who confirmed this and said she had a room available within the next few month. Closer ro the tme i made contact and was told she had a room available but the house was being refurbished. She went onto explain the terms of the agreement which sppeared ok to me. But i since found that she had been hard to get into contact with , sometimes  my cslls would go unreturned or ingored not ,emails not responded to. Eventually when i did get through we arranged to meet to up to vjew the property. When i arrived  the builders were the ones to show me around as she failed ro turn up. Even though she has my email address she failed to inform me  she was not able to attend. I called and she made me aware that she does not meet with her clients and explained everything was done online.

I decided to check her out as there was two many red flags to how she conducted her business . I checked various official sites and her business is licenced at the governmemt website and is active, so i thought there will be no issue in sending payment to hold the room. The bank checked, and said the account details she provided was find( it was registered ti her business account and her details ok)

She then went onto tell me to direct emails to her business( which she neve responses to)Although i recieved a draff agreement, i find that she has been hatf to get hold of , constsntly ingoring my calls and now my emails. I have not made any further payments but expected to pay soon. Although an estimated date was stated in the draft agreement, i cannot help but feel that i am being scammed as her lack of professionalism is disconcerting. Am i being scammed ?

Surely the main question is - after months of trying to find a place, you have found one, and if you don't progress in good faith, won't you be back to square one?

At this moment in time you are nothing but an interested party who has paid an amount to hold a room - you are not yet a Tenant (client). Yes, you would think communication is key to her role, but you may need to understand Tenants are all over the place and are competing for homes more than ever before. If you decide to walk away she might even get to retain the holding deposit you seem to have paid. And another prospective Tenant will be able to take your place, likely the same day. if it feels too risky, walk away - but I would comment that you've made payments electronically to a verified destination, so there's a trail to follow.

In my own experience as a Landlord I realised early on that you become a different person for different Tenants. Some people need hand-holding and regular communication about every little thing. Some are happy to be just set free to run their lives, and only communicate when something severe happens to the property that you need to be aware of. This Landlord may have seen so many Tenants come and go from rooms that she just behaves the same for everyone. She has the (limited) supply. You (and many others) have the demand. None of this is recommendation and no-one here, or anywhere, could advise you if you're being scammed. Just thoughts...

Hello Hippo,

Thanks for the prompt response.

I have never experience  such full on lack of professonlism as i had always been a tenant of social housing where communication was key ( well most times anyways).

I am very uncomfortable about making further payments. She fails to response to hsve the official agreemenf sent over, i have not recieved the keys. I had not recieved a receipt for the holding deppsit i made, i had to makw calls and emails just to recieve acknowledge of that . Although her business is licensed , her business is not one which is not advertised and known. Like i said i foubd her details from someone who also helps with the building work. She has become more unaccessible since making the holding deposit.

You are correct when you said i am holding on  because she is the only one i have found that takes DSS snd i cannot helo but feel that is being taken advantage of..

She stated that after 72 hours the holdong deposit is non refundable and it has been more than that now. So even if things dont go to plan,  will i have any recoirse with my bank?

You don't mention if the building work has been completed yet.It may be that she is unable to give a definate move-in date until she has the room ready.If she was scamming you,surely she would have done so when you first got in touch,not asked you to wait until near the time?
Out of interest,why are you not still in social housing?

Quote from: heavykarma on May 14, 2023, 08:55:47 AM
You don't mention if the building work has been completed yet.It may be that she is unable to give a definate move-in date until she has

I understand this and view the place  and tool into consideration that completion can take a  longer than was anticipated  as i was given a date inititally and it was changed (only when i called when she failed to turn to ip to meet me at the property). She failed to make me away that it will take longer.

QuoteIf the room ready.If she was scamming you,surely she would have done so when you first got in touch,not asked you to wait until near the time?

There is more payments  to.make and i am very nervous about handing  more money because she has appeared to be more uncontactable more since i made the holding deposit. Shockingly so to be honest

Why do you feel you have to keep contacting her ? Presumably when you pay the rest of the money it will be when the lease is signed and the key handed over to you. In her position I would be having second thoughts about taking you on,worried that you are going to be very needy.
This is not social housing,she is in business and you are a customer of that business.So far I cannot see anything to suggest that she has misled you in any way.   

Quote from: heavykarma on May 14, 2023, 08:39:07 PM
Why do you feel you have to keep contacting her ? Presumably when you pay the rest of the money it will be when the lease is signed and the key handed over to you. In her position I would be having second thoughts about taking you on,worried that you are going to be very needy.
This is not social housing,she is in business and you are a customer of that business.So far I cannot see anything to suggest that she has misled you in any way.   

It is not about being needy at all, i am being cautious with all the scamming and the mountain of bad and msleading experiences i have endure throughout the months by landlords claiming they accept dss only to refute it , it is nature to being cautious. Like i said i have noticed she has been even more avasive since i made the holding deposit and with more payments due shortly i am netbous- again these feelings are natural. With how scares it is to find landlords that acceot dss i woild not put it past some to take advantage and requests paymennts only to ghost them as the business is not worldly advertised.

FYI social housing is a businss also

This last paragraph borders on the paranoid, rather than circumspect... but all we can say here is that we definitely cannot give you a "yes" or "no" answer to whether you are in the middle of a long-con. If you feel unsafe, then you should walk away... but know that by walking away you will almost surely lose your Holding Deposit. Or at least fully expect the Landlord to strongly (rightly) want to retain it.

If you have a look on the Land registry site - https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry - you can find who owns the property for three quid. That might give you some reassurance.

If you had been accepted for social housing,why did you leave it ? I can't help but think there are other factors that have led you to this situation.Maybe you are causing the problems yourself ?

Quote from: Simon Pambin on May 15, 2023, 08:55:56 AM
If you have a look on the Land registry site - https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry - you can find who owns the property for three quid. That might give you some reassurance.

She owns it 

Quote from: Nitilove on May 15, 2023, 03:42:29 PM
She owns it 

Well, if she is who she says she is, and she owns the property, then I don't think it's a scam. She might not turn out to be the world's best landlord but she's not just some rapscallion taking your deposit money and running off before the real owner turns up.

Like i said, she has been even more unreachable since the holding deppsit has been msde  :-

Quote from: Nitilove on May 15, 2023, 03:42:29 PMLike i said, she has been even more unreachable since the holding deppsit has been msde  :-

Your choice remains the same as it was before.